5-26-16
LAFAYETTE MAYOR PRESIDENT JOEL ROBIDEAUX IS RECOMMENDING THAT THE LAFAYETTE HOUSING AUTHORITY RETURN TO LOCAL CONTROL. ROBIDEAUX HAS SELECTED FIVE PEOPLE TO SERVE ON A LOCAL BOARD. HOWEVER, THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT HAS TO APPROVE IT BEFORE ROBIDEAUX CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH THE TRANSITION. FEDERAL OFFICIALS TOOK CONTROL OF THE AUTHORITY FIVE YEARS AGO AFTER AN AUDIT REVEALED WIDESPREAD PROBLEMS THAT LED TO AN INVESTIGATION AND THE FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SENTENCED TO 28 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR BRIBERY AND WIRE FRAUD.
A Westlake woman has been arrested after investigators found she allegedly wrote more than $166,000 in checks on a church’s business account to herself over a four-year period. KPLC-TV reports deputies arrested 40-year-old Lenny M. McLendon on Monday on one count each of theft over $25,000 and forgery. The investigation began on May 10 when the sheriff’s office got a call from an area church about employee forgery and theft. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Kim Myers says
documentation shows she had forged signatures of board members’ names to the checks, along with other paperwork.
Federal prosecutors say a 29-year-old Opelousas computer hacker has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for stealing money, hacking computers and trying to sell information on a hacking forum. On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Rory Stephen Guidry was sentenced on a single count of obtaining information by computer from a protected computer.
Prosecutors say Guidry pleaded guilty to taking part in July 2014 in an online hacking attack on a computer server in Austin, Texas. At the time, Guidry was living in Liberty Hill, Texas.
LOUISIANA IS ONE OF ELEVEN STATES SUING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S TRANSGENDER BATHROOM DIRECTIVE. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
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House lawmakers have unanimously agreed to allow Louisiana to issue driver’s licenses that comply with federal identification law. The House voted 97-0 Wednesday to support the Senate-backed proposal to create REAL ID-compliant licenses. It now awaits final Senate approval. State residents would need to carry only one card by choosing between a compliant or noncompliant license, under the measure.
TWO LAFAYETTE CHARTER SCHOOLS EXPECT TO TAKE IN MORE THAN 17 MILLION DOLLARS IN REVENUE FOR THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR. ACADIANA RENAISSANCE CHARTER ACADEMY ANTICIPATES RECEIVING 8-POINT-9 MILLION DOLLARS IN STATE AND LOCAL MINIMUM FOUNDATION PROGRAM FUNDING, WHILE THE LAFAYETTE RENAISSANCE ACADEMY EXPECTS TO RECEIVE 8-POINT-4 MILLION DOLLARS. BOTH SCHOOLS, WHICH ARE OPERATED BY CHARTER SCHOOLS USA, ANTICIPATE HAVING BALANCED BUDGETS. ACADIANA RENAISSANCE EXPECTS TO HAVE 860 STUDENTS NEXT YEAR, AN INCREASE OF 82 STUDENTS OVER THIS YEAR, WHILE LAFAYETTE RENAISSANCE ACADEMY PROJECTS AN ENROLLMENT OF 810 STUDENTS, MORE THAN 140 ABOVE THE CURRENT YEAR.
THE LATEST INSPECTION OF THE I-TEN BRIDGE IN LAKE CHARLES SHOWED NO MAJOR PROBLEMS, ACCORDING TO TODD LANDRY, A DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT. HE TALKED ABOUT AN ARTICLE THAT IS TRENDING IN SOCIAL MEDIA THAT SHOWS THE BRIDGE BEING UNSAFE. HE SAYS THE ARTICLE SHOWS THE BRIDGE WITH A POINT-6-6 SUFFICIENCY RATING ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL BRIDGE INVENTORY, BUT IN FACT, THE RATING IS SIX-POINT-6. LANDRY SAYS A REHABILITATION PROJECT IS PLANNED FOR THE I-TEN BRIDGE ONCE THE I-210 BRIDGE PROJECT IS COMPLETED, WHICH WILL TAKE AT LEAST TWO YEARS ONCE IT BEGINS THIS FALL.
A WOMAN WHO WAS KILLED OUTSIDE OF A TEXAS RADIO STATION WAS A NATIVE OF CROWLEY. 52-YEAR-OLD SHERRY RUTH FRANCIS, WHO WORKED AT THE RANCH RADIO IN KERRVILLE, WAS FOUND BY A CO-WORKER AT AROUND 5:45 A-M YESTERDAY. GILBERT MARQUEZ WAS ARRESTED BY KERR COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES AFTER HE CONFESSED TO THE MURDER. MARQUEZ HAD NO TIES TO THE STATION AND OFFICIALS BELIEVE IT WAS A RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE.
